• Manchester United has signed a multi-year deal with Marriott International, with multi-platform marketing including access to on-field & player experiences for 120M members of the Marriott BonVoy travel program.

• PepsiCo is acquiring the CytoSport supplements brand from Hormel, which includes the Muscle Milk line.

• MLS Los Angeles Galaxy has signed a deal naming Mescal El Silencio, a specially crafted mezcal label based in Los Angeles, as an official partner for the team and its venue, Dignity Health Sports Park. The alliance, being called the first mescal deal for a pro sports team, includes a Mezcaleria El Silencio bar on the main concourse.

• MLS FC Dallas has signed a pact naming Heineken as the official import beer for the club and Toyota Stadium. The alliance also make Heineken USA a founding partner for the National Soccer Hall of Fame, which recently opened in Toyota Stadium.

• Lisa Borders, who in October resigned from her position as president for the WNBA to become president and CEO for Time’s Up, has now resigned from that position, citing family situations.

MLB, which ended the 2017 season with a slew of marketing deals, picks up right where it left off, signing its first new deal of the season, Supercuts haircutting brand, to a category-exclusive multi-year deal.

Under the alliance, Supercuts has the exclusive category rights to promote around pre-season, regular season and post-season games, including such jewel events as the All-Star Game presented by MasterCard and the World Series.

Supercuts, a division of Regis Corp., said it would support the deal with advertising “implemented throughout MLB’s core marketing platforms including broadcast, digital, mobile and social.”

The deal will also be promoted in more than 2,600 locations nationwide.

Supercuts did not indicate whether MLB players would be included in marketing.

“We are pleased to welcome Supercuts and the Regis Corporation into the baseball family,” Noah Garden, evp-commerce for MLB, said in a statement. “After a memorable 2017 season, 2018 is poised to be another thrilling year of baseball and we’re glad that Supercuts is joining us to be a part of the excitement.”

Among the deals MLB signed last season were Coca-Cola (replacing Pepsi as the league’s official category partner), Nathan’s Famous, Old Dominion Freight Line, W.B. Mason, Camping World and YouTube TV.

MLB, in fact, hit a record one-season mark, with sponsorship deals totaling a record $892 million in 2017, up 7.9% from $827 million in 2016 and up nearly $230 million from 2013, according to research and consulting firm ESP Properties, Chicago.

MLB sponsorship has risen steadily over the past several years, from $663 million in 2013, $695 million in 2014, $778 million in 2015 and $827 million in 2016, per ESP.

According to Hugh Sawyer, president and CEO for Regis Corp., “We are delighted to establish this exclusive, multi-year partnership with Major League Baseball. We anticipate that our new relationship with MLB will be a highly effective platform for Supercuts' well-known national brand to support the growth of our local market Supercuts franchised and company-owned salons across North America.”

Sawyer said that the Supercuts brand would be “integrated throughout MLB’s highly successful and connected ecosystem of millions of fans on MLB Network, MLB.com, social media and the leading sports television networks.

“Given the quality and breadth of MLB, we believe this will be a home run for our Supercuts salons, stylists and guests,” said Sawyer.